


Thicker than water

by Lovewithouttragedy



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gen, Las Vegas, Supernatural - Freeform, Vampires, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-01-13 14:59:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18471322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovewithouttragedy/pseuds/Lovewithouttragedy
Summary: Las Vegas, Nevada: casinos, 24 hour liquor stores, year round sun.The last quality was the most important for Antonia, witch on the run. Her sister, along with her nasty clan of vampires, were after their father’s Book of Shadows. They wanted to raise an ancient vamp, which would spell disaster for humanity. And where better to hide from a group of bloodsucking demons than a place with almost 300 days of sunshine? With some help from a king of Hell and her werewolf roommate, Antonia may just be able to keep the Book of Shadows safe.They don’t call it Sin City for nothing…





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my original work. Just a bit of warning, this work is not edited. I’m trying to get one of my friends to edit for me. I apologize for any grammatical errors.

If anyone would have told me a few years ago that I would waste a year of my life, collecting enough of my blood to summon a King of Hell, I would have asked for some of whatever they were smoking. 

And yet here I am, standing in my studio apartment which is covered in nine pints worth of my blood. Nine pints, one for each level of Hell. Technically I should be in the hospital now, I haven’t given my body enough down time to recover. I’m running out of time. I need to finish. My sister ,Valentina, is searching for me and I won’t be able to hide from her much longer.

Summoning a demon is dangerous. Summoning one of the Kings of Hell is damn near impossible to do alone. It normally takes a coven and sacrifices. Contrary to popular belief you don’t need sacrifices to summon a King of Hell, you need sacrifices for after the fact. It’s insulting to a King to be summoned unless they gave the mortal permission to call them. The sacrifices are there for the king to take their anger out on. 

I would be more worried, but my within the summoning circle I was able to place a binding spell. With the binding spell in place, the summon will be bound to the area of the summoning circle. This means I won’t have to worry about the King wreaking havoc in my tiny apartment or being free to try an kill me. 

I have my bloodline to thank for my ability to be able to place such a strong binding spell that it would work on a King of Hell. My bloodline also allows me enough strength and power to perform this summoning by myself instead of needing a coven. I guess I have my parents to thank. 

My father was one of the most powerful witches within the past century. He was powerful enough to seal into an eternal sleep, Karima the Chaotic, one of the royal vampires. 

Karima the Chaotic was one of the vampires who saw humans as little more than food. Her influence lead to the death of thousands for centuries. She was a monster. . . Or so I been told. Apparently after giving birth to my sister and I, Karima was weakened enough our father was able to seal her into an enteral sleep. I use to wonder if my mother even had a chance to hold us before she was sealed away. Are monsters even capable of love?

I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Karima is sealed, and my father is dead. My sister lost her damn mind and turned into a full vampire. She wants to free our mother. I never got a chance to know Karima, but I can’t risk the lives of innocents. My father sealed her for a reason and she needs to remain sealed. 

As a vampire, Valentina now has access to money and resources I can only dream of having. Being the daughter of the one of the most ancient vampires certainly has had perks for my sister since she turned. She now has access to whatever wealth our mother has acquired as well as help and influence from all of Karima’s old allies and friends. 

Her new resources is making it hard to stay hidden from her. I know my twin wants our father’s book of shadows and I’m the last one left to protect it. After Valentina turned, she killed our father’s coven. Every single member but me. 

I’ve never been one for dark magick, but I’m desperate. And you know what they say about desperate times, right?

I stare at the summoning circle. The only reason why I am even attempting this summoning is because I know wife of the King I’m trying to summon. Laci is an old childhood friend of mine. How the in the world she ended up married to a King of Hell, I’m not sure. She didn’t give me all the details before running off to Hell.

The summoning circle is huge, covering almost my entire studio apartment. I look over the design again to ensure it is correct. Any mistake, no matter how small, could lead to my death. Once I’m sure everything is correct I a deep breath. It’s now or never. 

“I, Antonia Ravenna daughter of Septimus Ravenna, summon the 4th King of the 3rd Kingdom of Hell, Malum.” 

I hold my breath, but for a moment nothing happens. I exhale taking a deep breath and begin to look over the design. Everything was correct. No detail out-of-place.

A small part of me actually feels slightly relieved. I guess I underestimated just how terrified I was about summoning Malum. 

Not finding anything wrong with the summoning circle, I shrug and walk into my kitchen. As I look through my near empty fridge hoping to find something edible. I need to eat something before I can even think about what to do next. As I’m going through my fridge, I hear the distant sound of footsteps in my living area.

I freeze for a short moment before slamming the fridge door shut and turning around, just in time to see Malum walk over the summoning circle as if there were no binding spells in place. 

“Oh my God,” I stare at him fear freezing me in place. 

Malum laughs lightly, “ Well I’m sure if God was able to help you, I wouldn’t be here.”

I’ve never seen a demon king before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve seen demons before and they range anywhere between the stuff made from nightmares to breathtaking beautiful.

Malum doesn’t fall into either category. Yeah he is still tall and gorgeous, but he looks more like a human than a being from Hell. No scales, horns or tail. His skin is smooth and a flawless tan that would make beach girls jealous. Seriously is he a King of Hell or a model? Looking at Malum I can see why Laci chose to run off and marry him, he is easy on the eyes.

I’m not sure what the normal attire is for Hell, but Malum was dressed as a normal human. I’m slightly surprised to see just how relaxed and normal Malum looks in human clothes. I was kinda expecting him to have a gaudy crown and dress like it was biblical times. Looks like fashion has evolved in Hell as well. Malum is dressed all in black; silk button shirt with matching pants and leather dress shoes. I begin to feel underdressed barefoot in my cotton leggings, and oversized tee shirt. In my defense when summoning a demon, a dress code is never mentioned. 

If it wasn’t for his aura, I wouldn’t have look twice at Mal. But his aura is powerful, enough to make it hard for me to breathe.

Malum finally stops looking around the apartment, not that there is much to look at, and turns his full attention on me, “Well Antonia Ravenna daughter of Septimus Ravenna, you summoned me.” I can hear the boredom in his voice, “ How may I be of service?” 

I feel a cold chill run down my spine as he says my name. I try to will myself not to look frightened and look Malum in the eyes. As soon as I do I regret it. While Malum may sound, look, dress and walk like a human his eyes give away his nature. 

They are pitch black. Not dark brown, not even black but a piercing pitch black. I swear he can see straight through to my soul. 

“I . . .” I open my mouth to speak but find myself unable to speak.

Malum raises one eyebrow, silently questioning me.

“I . . .” I can feel my fear hit me full force. I foolishly summoned a King of Hell and he broke free of my bindings like they were nothing and now he is free to roam and possibly kill me. “Um please don’t kill me but Laci said if I ever needed anything I could call her. But since she is married to you and a queen of Hell now , I can’t just call her. Queens can’t be summoned unless they are the sole ruler, so I had to summon you. I’m really sorry, please don’t kill me. I was just hoping Laci could help me out, I had no one else to turn to.” 

 

I close my eyes and pray if he won’t disappear, Malum will at least kill me quickly. 

To my surprise I hear him laughing. 

“We’ll aren’t you adorable? Come Antonia open your eyes. If I wanted you dead . . . Well we wouldn’t be chatting in your kitchen now would we? Come let’s sit down and talk things out.” 

“So your not gonna eat my soul or tear me to pieces?”

“Would you like me to?”

“No thank you . . .please don’t.”

Malum steps aside and motions for me to walk past him, towards one of my dinning room chairs. Due to the size of my studio apartment my table and chairs were cheap, plastic and foldable. I really need to invest in better things for myself, maybe I will once I don’t have to worry about being hunted down by my vampire twin sister and her new nasty bloodsucking friends. 

“Um . . . Sorry I don’t own nicer chairs, though in my defense I thought you wouldn’t be leaving the circle.”

Malum looked amused as he gracefully pulled out a chair and sat across from me. “ No need to apologize, I won’t be here long enough for this to be an inconvenience to me. Speaking of me being here, why am I? During your panicked rant I heard you mention my wife.”

I nod my head, “I knew Laci when we were younger, before she even had the nickname. We lost touch for a bit.” I pause for a bit and wonder if I should mention why we lost touch. Something told me not to mention Laci’s ex fiancé Nero. I’m sure Malum must know about him, but demons are known for being possessive, so I figure it’s best not to mention his wife’s ex lover. “But before Laci left to marry you, she found me. She told me about the marriage and that if I ever needed anything I could call her for help.”

Malum patiently listened to my rant. “And how may we help you Antonia?”

He sounded so calm. Maybe I wouldn’t die today after all. “Uh . . . I’m a half-breed technically speaking.”

“I know, but continue.” 

I felt stupid for a moment, of course he knew. Valentina and I were the only children of Septimus and it is no secret who is our mother. “ Well my sister decided to give up her humanity and become a full vampire. I need help hiding from her. Yes I’m a witch, but I’m not strong enough to stay hidden. My sister has new resources and allies now that she is a vampire. I’m trying to protect our father’s book of shadows from her. . . Sorry. Am I talking too much?” 

“No need to apologize, your simply answering my questions. Honestly, which I appreciate. I am familiar with both your parents. My condolences on your father. Let me guess, your sister wants the book of shadows to wake your mother?”

I nod my head.

“Makes sense why you would call me. Your mother is quite powerful, one of the few vampires her age.”

“ Um . . . So if you know my mother don’t you want her awake?”

“ Karima serves little to no purpose for me. Yes she is vampire royalty. . . But lucky for you, I’m not one of the Kings of Hell the vampires deal with.” 

Well that’s a relief. “ Can you hide me from my sister?”

“Very fortunate for you the Kings of Hell the vampires do deal with only benefit them in Hell. Those kings have no interest in the mortal realm. I on the other hand have always been fascinated by you humans. There are a few cities I have in the palm of my hand.” 

I blink. “So, you’ll help me?”

Mal smiles, holds out his left hand. In the palm of his hand black smoke begins to rise and shimmer before disappearing and leaving a black folder. He holds the folder out for me to take.

I try to will my hands to stop shaking as I accept the folder. “Is this a contract?”

“You certainly are amusing. My contracts look a like more, well how do I say this lightly, bloody. Inside the folder is a new birth certificate, social security card, bank account information and plane tickets. As well as a few other things you will need to start over. I didn’t change your name much. I kept your first name and had your last name changed to one of the most common last names, Rodriguez.”

I stare at him in shock. “ Wow, that was fast.”

“ I had the new identity set up for you a while ago. I just got the plane tickets when you summoned me, that is what delayed me from first appearing.”

“ Wait what?”

“Honestly I’m surprised it look you this long to summon me. Let me guess you used all your own blood? Smart move it would have allowed you more control over the strength of the bindings, too bad bindings are useless with my summoning circle.”

I could feel my jaw drop and dread fill my stomach. “ How did you know I would summon you and how did you break my bindings”

“To answer your first question, easy. Your sister summoned me, months ago. To answer your second question, my wife is a witch. You really think I wasn’t going to have her make adjustments to my summoning circle? I had Laci change it into a reverse summoning circle.”

I blinked for a moment slightly confused. “A reverse summon?”

“You heard correctly. Whenever someone tries to summon me, the summoning circle will drag them to my throne room in Hell instead of forcing me to appear before them. Fortunate for you, Laci had your name on a list of people to not be dragged to Hell. She did mention something about being in you and your sister’s debt.”

I blinked for a moment. I can’t believe Laci had grown in power so much so was able to create reverse summons. Normally the summons of the Kings of Hell’s cannot be changed, even when a new King comes into power. The summoning circles for them were as old as Hell itself. For Laci to be able to turn Malum’s summoning into a reverse summon . . .I can’t even begin to think about how much dark magick must have gone into that. It is just so hard for me to imagine the girl who couldn’t sleep by herself in the dark, all grown up and one of the Queens of Hell. 

“Wait you said my sister summoned you first, why are you helping me?”

“Simple, I said she summoned me, I never said I liked her. For someone who has accomplished nothing, she is quite arrogant. If Valentina, wasn’t Laci’s friend I would have dragged her to Hell and tossed her to one of my Hellhounds.”

A chill ran down my spine. “So she is still alive? Did you hurt her?”  
I couldn’t help but to ask. Valentina, was my twin sister. Besides my mother trapped in an eternal sleep, Val, was my only relative left. She might have made a decision I couldn’t stand by but she was still my sister. I didn’t wish to see her hurt or dead. 

“Your sister is a vampire now, she can handle a few bumps and bruises. Don’t worry Antonia, I mostly just hurt her ego. Your sister is fine, besides the bond between the two of you is strong enough that you would know if she was severely injured or dead.”

I let go of a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and feel some of the tension leave my body. Only my twin would risk pissing off a King of Hell and live to tell the tale. Val has always been a risk taker. It’s always been easy for her to try new things and face challenges. We might be identical twins, but Valentina has always excelled at magick far more than me. 

The strength of her magick is probably why Val was so reckless. She always relied on her powers to get her out of trouble. For the most part her risks have always paid off, she is lucky she hasn’t ended up in serious danger or dead. I guess all her luck has made her arrogant and overly confident. I hope she learned a lesson with Malum, and won’t try another dangerous summoning.

“Thank you, for your kindness to both me and my sister. I know you're doing this for Laci, but someone of your rank I know you could ignore her request and do as you please.”

Mal tilted his head to the side and looked thoughtful for a moment. “You know, you're the second person in my lifetime who has ever thanked me. I see why your friends with my wife. If you have no more questions you have your paperwork. Your plane leaves in six hours, that is more than enough time for you to pack and leave. Feel free to pack light, your new apartment will have clothes. You’ll find that the weather is quite different in Las Vegas than New York.”

“So that’s it, I can just go? We don’t need a contract?”

“Would you like to form a contact?”

“No, not really.”

“Wonderful, because I wasn’t really in the mood to draw one up. Although, since I am doing a favor for you. I’m sure you’ll be willing to do a favor for me.”

I felt dread begin to build up in my stomach. 

“Don’t worry Antonia . The only thing that I ask is that you notify me if there are any demonic contracts or activities made, that are not related to me.”

I blinked in confusion. “How am I suppose to tell you?”

“An associate of mine has a way to get in direct contact with me. You’ll meet him once you touch down in Vegas, he’ll be picking you up.”

“Okay I agree, but how will I know who your associate is?”

“Easy, he is an old acquaintance of yours. Surely you remember Veritas.”

I dropped my jaw in shock. Veritas is Nero’s older half-brother. I wondered what happened to him after Nero banished him from the pack. Damn so Malum not only took Nero’s girl but is working with his brother. No wonder why Nero hates Malum so much. 

I nod my head. “Yeah its been a few years, but I remember him.” 

I looked at folder, “Not that I’m complaining but why Las Vegas? Will it be far enough away?”

Malum looked amused. “You have no idea how much sun Las Vegas gets. Trust me, the only vampires in the states that would willingly go to the desert are the banished ones. Don’t you fear, no matter how much influence your sister may have as a vampire, I have far more. Las Vegas is one of the few cities I have sole control of. I will know if any being stronger than a low-level witch tries to enters. If you have no more questions, we are done here.”

I nod my head. “I’ll start packing then. Please tell Laci I say hi.”

Malum stood, politely pushed the chair in. “Will do. Farewell for now. If you need anything, Veritas will help you.” Malum snapped his fingers and in a flash of black fire he was gone. 

I was impressed for a moment before I realized that Malum’s exiting act left a scorched mark on my floor. Hellfire marks are impossible to remove. 

Well there goes my deposit.


	2. Chapter one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won’t lie, I love to murder the English language. I do apologize for any grammatical mistakes I make. I’m trying to work on limiting my mistakes.

Three years later

“So let me get this straight. You cheated on your husband, with his best friend, and now you want your husband dead so you can claim his money before he removes you from the will?”

Sometimes I just didn’t want to believe the things people confessed. In rare moments, like now, I hope that people will magically just gain a conscious. 

I can tell just by looking at the women she wasn’t going to develop a conscious soon, if ever.The woman is a walking billboard for high end fashion, from her red bottoms, to her Chanel purse and Versace dress. I hate to admit it but sometimes stereotypes are true. If there is one thing I have learned its that the people who make themselves a slave to material items tend to lose sight of what is important in life. It’s really a pity that the woman’s beauty was on skin deep. 

The woman, Mrs. Ashby, looked annoyed for a moment before speaking slowly as if explaining to a child, “Yeah but I need to make sure I don’t get caught for the murder.” 

I pinch the bridge of my nose. She is completely missing the point. Seriously where is her morality compass? Let me try to give her one more chance and see if she has an ounce of human compassion left in her “You are trying to sell your soul to get away with your husband’s murder because even though you committed adultery, you want his money.”

I heard the woman sigh and the click of her heels as she uncrosses her legs and set both feet firmly on the ground. “Look are you able to do this for me or not?”

Well I tried, really I did try. 

I look the woman in her eyes and straighten my posture. I want to make sure that my body language will match the firmness of my voice, “Technically it is quite possible to grant your request; however, I will not.”

“What? Why not? I thought demons wanted souls.” I could tell by her tone of disbelief that Mrs. Ashby is not use to hearing no. 

“Low level demons like to devour souls.” It was my turn to speak slowly as if to a child, “ Need I remind you, that you are not trying to make a deal with a demon but a King of King. A King who is the direct descendant of one of the original Fallen Angels who fell to Hell with Lucifer. For a King of Hell to even be interested in making a deal, you will need to offer something a lot more enticing than your soul.” 

Mrs. Ashby narrows her eyes at me “This is why I hate dealing with girls. It sad to see how easy other women are jealous of me. That’s the real reason why you don’t want to help.” If I had a dollar for every time I heard this line whenever I turn down a woman’s request I could feed all the homeless in Vegas for a year. 

Sometimes people just need a reality check and since Mrs. Ashby won’t accept my gentle decline, I guess there is no need for me to be polite anymore “You know what, I’m not going to summon a King of Hell or even a demon for you. You have nothing worthwhile to offer and honestly morally I don’t feel right screwing over your husband just because A you couldn’t keep your legs closed and B Your greedy for money you didn’t help earn in any way.”

Mrs. Ashby quickly stands to glare down at me, as if the height difference will somehow intimidate me into changing my answer “You can’t just deny me after taking my money. That’s not fair. I want to talk to your partner, the guy.”

I rise from the sitting chair. Oh would you look at that, even though Mrs. Ashby is in heels, I’m taller than her. Not by much, maybe an inch, but it is enough that she crosses her arms across her chest and takes a step back from me. 

“It’ll be my pleasure to bring him in, Mrs. Ashby.” I turn and quickly head out the front door. Even though Veritas has been working as Malum’s liaison long before I came to Vegas, he likes to leave most of the client screenings to me. Veritas doesn’t have the patience for negotiation or setting up deals. He prefers to work as muscle and collect on people who try to back out of their pact or contract. 

I walk up the car, a red Charger with tinted windows, and knock on the driver’s side window. I hate the damn car, mostly cause Veritas felt the need to trick out the engine. Needless to say we are constantly getting pulled over for speeding. 

“She is all yours Veritas.”

Even with the window rolled up, I knew the werewolf heard me. Though I can’t see him, I’m willing to bet Veritas is no doubt in the middle of texting one of his many fan girls. It’s not much of a surprise Veritas is never in short supply of girls fawning over him. His height of 6’2 easily draws them to him. His chestnut wavy hair, silky and smooth looking, is frizz free and just so tempting to touch. His warm brown eyes and tanned skin hep complete the look of giving him a playful boyish look. Veritas is so laid back and peaceful looking, he looks more like a college student than a werewolf who occasionally needs to travel to Hell for business. 

It takes Veritas only a few moments to step out of the vehicle. “Really Toni, you couldn’t handle this on your own?”

I glared up at him. While I might be taller than Mrs. Ashby, my height is still no match for Veritas’s height. Despite his tall frame, I still glare at him. I’ve known him long enough to know he’ll never be a threat to me. 

“You should have known I would have denied her request. Why did you take this woman’s money?” I cross my arms and tap my foot. Sometimes, when talking to my partner, I feel like I’m scolding a child. 

Veritas shrugs, clearly he can’t be bothered to even feel slightly ashamed for his actions, “Cause she was dumb enough to pay cash up front.”

I swear I don’t understand how he is older than me. Aren’t you suppose to become more wise with age? “I can’t believe you sometimes. You are just the definition of impossible. How Malum trust you with so much is beyond me.”

Veritas holds his hands up “Calm down Baby Ravenna.” 

At the sound of the nickname I almost hiss at him. It might just be paranoia but it makes anxious whenever I hear my real last name. I can’t help but worry over if the wrong person will one day hear it and my sister will find me. “See this is exactly what I mean.”

Veritas sighed as he ran a hand through his chestnut colored locks, “It’s too early for me to be dealing with this. Look just get in the car and wait for me.” 

I stop tapping my foot but I remain glaring at him“I’m not helping that woman.”

“Well that much is obvious. If you were going to help her, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now, would we?”

I pointed towards the door of the house. 

“I’m not a dog and I already said I would handle it. Just give me five minutes and wait in the car.”

I glare at his retreating back for a moment before getting in the passenger seat. Even though Veritas wasn’t back yet, I buckle myself in and make my self comfortable. I turn off the radio and recline in my seat as I close my eyes while I wait for him to return. 

Ever since I moved to Vegas, Veritas has been the closest thing to a friend I have. Sometimes I find it hard to believe I already been in Vegas for three years. The main reason why I haven’t made friends, is because I’ve limited the amount of people I come in contact with. I know Malum said I would be safe in Vegas, and Veritas once said he would kill someone to help keep me safe, but I use can’t bring myself to trust them enough to risk interacting with too many people. 

Honestly my social interactions are limited to Veritas and any current or potential clients of Malum. 

I’ve learned a lot about demon contracts these past three years. Apparently Malum does not like contacts and does everything possible to avoid them. Instead he likes to form pacts which are looser and allow him to pass the work load off to a middle man.

Veritas use to handle all of Malum’s Las Vegas pacts but since I moved here, I been helping him out. 

Me moving to Vegas has been useful to Veritas. Since he is a werewolf he has some magickal ability but not enough to draw up a binding pact. Before me, he use to need one of the more powerful witches from LA to come out. Which tended to slow down the process. With me around, Veritas can meet with and help form more pacts. 

I was startled out of my daydreaming by the feel of the car moving. I let out a small scream of surprise. 

“Relax! Your always so on edge. Calm down Baby Ravenna.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Fine but chill out a bit would you Toni?”

“Don’t scare me.”

“I wasn’t trying to. I only masked my steps because you looked like you were finally getting some sleep. Lord, knows you need it.” While werewolves were known for their size and strength, it was a little known fact that those of them who had access to magickal abilities were able to silence their steps, both in wolf and human form. 

I can feel my heartbeat slowing down and reaching back to normal speeds “Speaking of sleep, my new prescription is ready. Can we stop by the pharmacy before home?” 

“Yeah sure.” I ignored the worried glance Veritas gave me. I would never admit it out loud but he is right I do need to relax. My anxiety has been keeping me from not only making friends but getting sleep as well. 

“So what was the resolution?”

“I gave her Aiden’s number and set up a meeting with them this weekend, since he will be in town then.”

I can’t help but feel slightly worried. Aiden is one of the more powerful witches from LA. He use to help Veritas more often before I moved to the west coast. While Aiden is extremely talented, he is also self serving and lacking in morals. He was definitely one of the witches to call if you wanted to do anything questionable. “You don’t think Aiden will go through with the request?”

“Relax I already text Aiden, he’ll do a memory wipe on the woman and make her forget she ever met any of us or seen Malum’s symbol.”

I begin to feel some of the worry begin to leave me. Veritas was a strong believer in free will and letting people do whatever they want even if they damned themselves. Without a doubt he most likely requested Aiden do the memory wipe on my behalf, instead seeing if a pact can formed, since I was so against the idea. 

“You know for someone who works for a King of Hell, you sure do have a strict sense of morals.”

“Well if I didn’t what would be the difference between me and Val?”

“Point taken I guess. Speaking of Val, when are you going to stop worrying about her? Seriously your nightmares are suppose to stop not become more frequent.”

“That’s why I have new prescription I shouldn’t be able to dream as often.”

“You know you can try smoking weed.”

I glare at him. 

He shrugs. “Just a suggestion. It might do you some good to lighten up on the prescriptions. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but you look like you lost weight again. There is such as thing as too skinny you know.”

“I just been too tired to eat.”

“Too tired to eat, too stressed to sleep. . . You should smoke some weed.”

“I swear I can’t stand you.”

“You know you love me. Seriously all jokes aside what are the nightmares about?”

I close my eyes and rub at them.

I notice Veritas spare me a worried glance in the review mirror, “I don’t like to pry, that’s never been my thing. But Toni, you were so hysterical last night I thought someone died.”

“I died.”

“What happened, dreamed Valentina killed you?”

I shook my head. “I dreamed I turned into a monster just like my sister.”

“Well don’t worry, you won’t turn unless you want to. I’ll keep you safe from your big bad scary sister.”

Even though Veritas’s tone was light I knew he meant the oath of protection, but it did nothing to ease my sense of worry. The nightmares are just too vivid and in them it isn’t my sister I need saving from. “Would you keep me safe from myself?”

“Huh?”

I took a deep breath and let out a sigh before looking straight out the window at the road ahead, purposely avoiding looking at Veritas. I lick my lips nervously before speaking, “What horrified me, is the taste of blood in my mouth. I loved it. I loved the feeling of tearing into someone’s throat. I loved the taste of their blood flowing into my mouth. I loved hearing the sound of their dying heart beat. I loved every moment of being a monster and craving for more carnage. Tell me Veritas, would you keep me safe from myself?”

It was his turn to sigh, “Antonia, I’ve met literal monsters and humans who are so depraved they might as well be monsters. Trust me, you don’t have a single monstrous bone in your body. Have more faith in yourself.”

I look out the window and briefly wonder if Veritas would still the feel the same about me if he knew it was his throat I was ripping out in my dreams. His blood I dreamed about devouring.


End file.
